We weren’t never bad kids, we just didn’t have nothing to hold on to, that’s all. – John Sissons

John Sissons is a working class kid growing up in London’s East End during the mid 1970’s. His family doesn’t have a lot, but they do have tremendous love for each other and an undying passion for football (that’s soccer for the American crowd).

“I’m more passive aggressive than aggressive. I’m a wait and see kind of girl. More vulture than falcon.” – Miriam Black

Miriam Black has a unique and unwanted talent; with one glancing touch of skin on skin she can tell exactly when and how someone is going to die. Heart attacks, auto accidents, murders, peaceful passings in old age, she’s seen them all.

Brothers will come lookin’ for me because I jumped on this one. Got greedy. Ye don’t just walk away from jumpin’ a score. – Hobe Hicklin

Fresh out of prison after a long stretch, what’s the first thing up on ex-con Hobe Hicklin’s ‘To Do’ list? Rob his hometown North Georgia Savings and Loan, of course. In and out in under 3 minutes with the cash, as robberies go this one goes pretty smoothly.

Conway Sax can’t seem to catch a break. He tries. God knows he tries. But no matter how desperately he wants to walk the straight and narrow, something always seems to pull him off track and into trouble of one kind or another. Ironically enough, it’s usually Conway’s desire to do the right thing that lands him in the wrong place.

Ishmael Toffee is not a nice man. In fact, he’s about as evil as they come. “From when he was old enough to hold a knife, he’d stuck people dead.” It’s a skill, a calling even, that landed him in prison, and kept him there for 21 years as he continued to serve as an assassin for gangs even while on the inside.

Nick and Caroline Exley appear to be living a charmed life. Nick is a successful computer guru who’s designed a cutting edge, and very profitable, motion-capture program. And while it has been a while since her last big success, Caroline is a working author. Together with their daughter, Sunny, the Exleys live in a lavish beach house in a gated community on the South African coast.

“You do not ease your own burden by transferring it to others to carry. That strikes to the very heart of the ninth step. First, do no harm.” – Martha

To be fair, veterinarian Helen Patrice never set out to do harm. Not when she slowly slipped from college party girl into functioning alcoholic, slamming shots from mini bottles throughout the day at work at her vet hospital.